Simmons breaks ground on new plant

Simmons Foods' Feed Ingredients division has broken ground on a new pet food ingredient facility in Siloam Springs. The company held a groundbreaking event for the new $26 million plant on Tuesday, Dec. 15, with Gov. Asa Hutchinson in attendance.

The planned pet food facility is estimated to make a $50 million economic impact to the state of Arkansas and will create an estimated 78 full-time positions for employment.

The new building is listed at 89,125 square feet, according to a Simmons press release and is expected to be completed by November 2016.

Simmons already operates an ingredient production facility in Siloam Springs in addition to the company headquarters. All together, Simmons employs 5,800 employees, more than 1,200 of which are in the Siloam Springs operations.

"Arkansas is fortunate to have a company like Simmons Foods here in our state," said Hutchinson, per another Simmons press release. "Simmons has an emphasis on strong family values and an exemplary workforce that have driven this company to today's significant expansion announcement."

Simmons CEO Todd Simmons, who spoke at the groundbreaking, was born and raised here in Siloam Springs.

"The Simmons history goes back many decades in Siloam Springs," city administrator Phillip Patterson said. "Simmons is a great corporate partner here, and having them build this facility here is a huge acknowledgment that they want to be here and reinvest in the community."

The Simmons development permit was actually approved a few hours after the groundbreaking at the Board of Directors meeting. The permit originally appeared before the city planning commission over a month ago, but it was remanded by the Board of Directors on Dec. 8 because of significant changes to the planned building.

The changes came because Simmons switched design teams part way through the project, Civil Engineer Ron Homeyer said. The new changes include an increase in the facility size by 11,111 square feet and a roughly 40,000-square-foot increase to truck docking pavement.

The new project benefits from a few Arkansas Economic Development Commission incentives. Incentives include the Arkansas Advantage income tax credit, which supports job creation, the Tax Back refund for building materials and machinery, and a $1 million grant for wastewater pretreatment to ensure water quality for the city.